Coal mines



. (No Model.)

G. I-TZM NN; AUTOMATIGMETHOD 0F DRAINING-GOAL'MINES.

N0.'38 1,Z00. j Patented A r. 17-, 1883.

4 for the successful operation of a'siphon. To this class of mines my improvement is par- UNr-TED STAT-Es GEORGE Z-ITZMANN, or MILLvALn, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC" 'METHOD OF TDRAINING COAL-MINES:

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 110,381,200, datedApril 17,1888.- I

application filed October '22, 1887.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE ZITZMANN, of

Millvale, county of Allegheny, State. of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new the siphon.

anduseipllmprovementin'Automatic Methods of Draining Goal-Mines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description'thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which like letters indicate like parts.

Figure l is ase'ctional view of a coal-mine,

showing my improved method of and apparatus for automatic drainage. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are detailed Views of the operative parts of my. apparatus on an enlarged scale, and showing the valves at the ends of the siphon closed.

' Figs. 5'and 6 are corresponding views show-- ing the apparatus with the valves open as in operation. Fig. 7 shows a. detailed view of the swivel which takes up and lets out the slack of the wirecable operating the valves of in the water in the drainage-pit, as shown in Figs. 4 and '6. f

In the business of coal-mining a serious problem has often been found in the question as to how to dispose of surplus water which collects in the mines. Some mines are so fortunate in the dip of the veins as to drainthemselves, while many more have the dip of the coal-vein inclined inwardly, or have the vein runningas shown in the drawings rat Fig.1, entering first at an elevation and then gradu ally descending. At. many mines, too, particularly at whatare known as river mines, the mouthofthe mine is on the river-bank,

.and often elevated considerably above the wa ter, thus furnishing the required conditions ticularly advantageous; audit is the object of my invention to facilitate the drainage by the automatic opening and closing of the valves which operate the siphon; and to this end it consists in the arrangement, in connection with a siphon, of means for this purpose,whi.ch, by reference to the drawings, I

V will proceed to describe more in detail.

Fig. Sis a detached view of the box at the end of the wire cable, and which sits;

Serial No. 253,051. (No model.)

constitutest-he siphon, terminating atthein-H ner end in a pit arrangedtocollectthe-water,

itsoute'r end, A, at the mouthof the mine,

being, of course, suffici'ently depressed tdin: sure the working of the siphon. Near the outer end of the pipe, at c, is placed acut-ofi valveoperated by two lever-arms, to theouter one of which, Z, is attached theweight 10.. To

the other ar1n,Z, is connected the cablefB,

runni'ngtheentire length of the pipe'A, and

standard attachments, as ate. ner end'of the pipe A is another cut-off valve, T at c, operated by alever-arm, Z, tothe end'of which the cable Bis firmly attached. Thus the cable B will extend from the lever arm Z.

"to the lever arm Z and willbe keptsufficiently rigid or may be tightened and loosened, asthe stateof the-atmosphere-may require, by means of the swivel 8, attached also to the lever-arm Z and suspended therefrom is a box or woodenl receptacle, 1), which floats upon the wateri'nv. the pit a. This boxjmay be weightedor may be made" sufficiently heavy to work without about twice as heavy as the weights to at the other end of the cable B, so as to insure holde ing the valves 0 and 0 always closed except when relieved by the presence and pressure of the water in the pit a under the box b, so that the normal condition of the apparatus'when the siphon is not at work will be Withfthfl. I

valves 0 and 0 closed, and the lever-arms Z, Z,

and Z and the box b will all be in position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. 1 I 4 Asa matter of course, in order to start the siphon the pipe A must first be filled withwater, and to facilitate this operation I'p'rovide midway of the pipe the reservoir R, from'which theneeded supply of wateris admitted to the .pipe by meansof the stopcock n Ordinarily this reservoir will not be called into use after I theisiphon isfirst started; The 'pipeAwill naturally retain suflicient water to start the siphon; but I purpose to'keep the reservoir or i barrel stored with water to providefor any v 1 emergency.

The operation of my apparatus will be apparent from an inspectionof the drawings.

The normal condition of the'apparatus, ow-,

ing to the excess of weight at the box bfover .roo

P TENT 7s. 7' weights; but I deem it best that fit sho-uldbe r that at w, will be as shown in Fig. 1, holding the valves shut and preventing the siphon from working; but as the water collects in the pit a it naturally raises or buoys up the box b, and thus allows the influence of the weight w to come into play upon the cut-off valves 0 and 0, opening them and starting the siphon, the pipe A having been, as heretofore explained, previously filled with water. If for any reason the pit a were allowed to fill entirely before the siphon were started, the lever-arms,weight w, and box b would assume the position shown at Figs. 5 and 6; but ordinarily,when the apparatus is allowed to work automatically, the box b will begin to rise and will permit the weight w to come into play, at once opening the valves 0 and 0 only in part, and as the water is drawn off the box, from its excess in weight,will sink, drawing back the cable and closing, by means of the lever-arms, the valves in the pipe until opened automatically by the rising of the water in the pit, and with it the box b. As .the mine is driven farther in the location of the pit a may be changed as required, and the pipe A lengthened accordingly, or it may be lengthened by means of hose or in any other suitable way.

My apparatus will be of use not only in mining operations, but in any place where it may be desirable to draw water by means of the principle of the siphon, as it saves the use of a forcepump and requires little or no attention after it is once placed in operation, regulating itself with automatic precision. I have found in practice that it only needs careful adjustment of the parts and the regulation of the tension of the cable by means of the swivel to secure the most satisfactory results.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A siphon operating as a drainage-pipe and provided with valves, in combination with means connected thereto at or near the extremities of the siphon for automatically opening and closing said valves, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus for draining coal-mines, the discharge-pipe A, operating as a siphon having within it cut-off valves 0 and c, operated by lever-arms actuated by weights attached thereto, substantially as and for the purposes set forth and described.

3. The improved apparatus for operating automatically a siphon drain-pipe, consisting of the combination of discharge-pipe A, and cut-off valves 0 and c, operated by means of lever-arms Z, Z, and Z, connected by cable B, weighted at. its extremities, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE ZITZMANN. Witnesses:

J. LINCOLN RALPH, HOMER L. CASTLE. 

